


Fire and Water

by evilwriter37



Series: Banned Together Bingo 2020 [1]
Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: 11th century christianity, Gen, forced religious conversion, rape mention, religious violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-12
Updated: 2020-05-12
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:21:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24151981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evilwriter37/pseuds/evilwriter37
Summary: The English travel to Berk to convert them to Christianity.
Series: Banned Together Bingo 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1743505
Comments: 15
Kudos: 32
Collections: Banned Together Bingo 2020





	Fire and Water

**Author's Note:**

> The first part of my Banned Together Bingo fics! The Bingo is run by bannedtogetherbingo2020.tumblr.com. 
> 
> **Square: "Biased" (Accurate) History**

They came in strange ships: not long boats, but wider, and more bulky. Hiccup stood on the docks with his father, Toothless, and Skullcrusher, awaiting them. He didn’t know who these people were or what they wanted, but they hadn’t launched any attack on them just yet. They seemed peaceful, whoever they were. But, it was worrying that they had brought such a large fleet. 

“Who goes there?” Stoick asked, hands balled into fists at his sides. 

“We are an envoy from England,” one man said, coming to the forefront of the ship. He was dressed in gray clothing and his hair looked dirty. “I am Willelmus. May we come off?”

Stoick nodded. “Come off and state your business.”

A gangplank was lowered and Willelmus came off the ship with a group of his men. They were dressed in drab colors and looked unwashed. Hiccup wrinkled his nose a little in distaste. Where were the rich colors that clothing could be dyed in? Why didn’t they bathe? He quickly hid his distaste though. It wouldn’t be good for him to show it. Hiccup noticed that they wore swords at their hips. 

Willelmus cleared his throat, then took out a scroll. “By order of King Olav Tryggvasson, Christianity is now the one religion of the Barbaric Archipelago. Convert or meet fire and steel.”

Stoick and Hiccup looked to each other, aghast.

“ _What?_ ” Hiccup asked incredulously. He put a hand on Toothless’ head. He’d heard of Christianity of course, had met some converts, or people who were trying to convert others. But never had he thought of himself converting to this religion. And a whole religion change? Just like that? How would the people of Berk handle that?

“Excuse me?” Stoick asked. He had a dangerous look on his face. Willelmus didn’t seem awed by it though, stood his ground. 

“By order of the king, you and your tribe are to convert to Christianity and worship the one true God.” Willelmus put the scroll through his belt. “We’re here to help you.”

“No.” Stoick’s voice was hard.

Now it was Willelmus’ turn to ask: “What?” 

“I said no,” Stoick answered. “I will not have my tribe converting to this barbaric religion. I’ve seen what people do under the workings of Christianity. You call that the work of a loving God?”

“Fine.” Willelmus looked angry. “Then you will meet fire and steel.”

  
  


The English pulled back to form their attack, and the Berkians did as well. Flying on Toothless to the Mead Hall, Hiccup wondered how his day had come to this. He’d never seen so many Christians in one place, so many _angry_ Christians. They were ready to attack them, despite the fact that they had dragons.

“This is insane!” Hiccup called to his father. 

“I know.” They landed at the Mead Hall where the council was gathered outside. 

“What do they want?” Gobber asked.

“To convert us to that trash called Christianity,” Stoick growled. “They’re going to fight us.”

“Well, we have dragons,” Spitelout said, and, as if to prove his point, Kingstail came up next to him, shaking out his spines. “They’ll lose.”

“They’re fleet is pretty big,” Hiccup said, not feeling as confident as he wanted to.

“Oh, look, the heir has something _important_ to say,” Spitelout griped.

“Why do you have to be like that?” Hiccup put his hands on his hips. “We have an enemy at our doorstep and you’d rather take your time to criticize me?”

“Well, I was just thinking, as the heir, you could imbue us with confidence.”

The Dragon Riders had begun gathering, seeing Hiccup and Stoick with the council. 

“That’s enough!” Stoick snapped. “We don’t have time for this! We have to form a plan!” 

Hiccup looked out at the fleet. “I’ll take the Dragon Riders and attack head on,” he said. “Gustav and the A team can attack the left and right flanks.”

“What about our ships?” Gobber asked. 

“Surround the fleet,” Stoick said. “Board what ships you can, and fight like Hel.” 

  
  


Hiccup stood in a line in front of the Mead Hall, hands bound in front of him. There was a large tub of water, and a man in robes. Hiccup knew what this was, had heard of it before. Baptism. They were about to be converted.

Hiccup had never thought of himself as very religious, but he didn’t _want_ to convert to Christianity. He _believed_ in his gods, and he wanted to go to Valhalla when he died, not this atrocious “Heaven”, as the man in robes speaking had called the afterlife. And now that he’d seen what the Christians could do…

They’d ravaged Berk. They’d killed aimlessly, leaving children and those unfit to fight dead. They’d burned houses. They’d… _raped_. And now here they were, standing in front of a priest, going to be converted to this religion that let people murder and rape without consequence. If their God was so loving, why did he allow this?

“That’s a bunch of yak shit!” Snotlout yelled out. He was in line behind Hiccup. He and Stoick were at the front. Toothless and Skullcrusher were caged and muzzled by the priest. They’d lost. They’d lost so terribly. 

The priest looked to Snotlout, a grimace on his face. He didn’t seem to know how to respond, so he didn’t, just went back to preaching about how good Christianity was. Even as fire burned around them. Even as men and women cried. Hiccup felt hatred. He’d hardly ever felt hatred in his life, but here it was for these people who had done this to his tribe. And he felt hatred for this religion. If it allowed people to do this, it wasn’t a religion he wanted to convert to at all. There was no one true “God.” There was just pain. 

“Now, step forward,” said the priest, holding out one hand to Hiccup. It seemed he wanted him to go first. Maybe as the heir he would make a good example for his people. Or so the priest thought. 

Hiccup did step forward, but not to be baptized. He spit on the ground in front of the priest.

“Your religion disgusts me,” Hiccup snarled. “Your God lets you pillage and murder for his own gain. I want no part of it.”

The priest’s lips upturned in a smile, a cruel one. “How do you feel about your dragon, the Night Fury?” he asked. “You’re close to him, I would assume.” 

Hiccup’s stomach dropped. What were they going to do to Toothless?

“He doesn’t need his eyes, does he?” the priest asked. “He certainly won’t need them after he loses his wings. A flightless dragon doesn’t need to see.”

Hiccup’s mouth went dry. He felt like he was going to vomit.

“ _No_.”

“Then stop being an insolent brat and come here.”

Hiccup looked to Toothless. He couldn’t let him be hurt. Not like that. Not ever. Hiccup came towards the tub of water. The priest was handed a bowl.

“Now lower your head over the tub.”

Hiccup didn’t listen as the priest spoke the words for the baptism. He was boiling through with anger. His teeth were gritted as if he was about to be tortured. In a way, he was. This was being forced upon him, and he wanted nothing to do with it. 

He flinched as the water was poured over him. It felt like fire over his head. He wanted to scream. 

Then it was done. He lifted his head, shook the water out of his eyes. He glared daggers at the priest. 

“You’re going to regret this.”

“No, I don’t think I will.”

  
  


Hiccup was forced to stand and watch as the rest of his people were baptized. He let tears run down his cheeks, hoping the English wouldn’t be able to tell it apart from the water on his face. Maybe his people would know. He wanted them to know he felt misery over this, wanted them to know he was hurting for them. Because he was. He very much was. Each baptism felt like a spike in his gut. 

Then it was done. All of the living Berkians were converted. It had taken hours, and now they were standing out in the cold and the dark. Hiccup wanted to do something, wanted to fight, but his hands were bound, and Toothless was caged. There was nothing he could do. He’d watched his world go up in flames, and the water had done nothing to ease it. 


End file.
